A fascinating and revealing story of the daily struggle Roosevelt went through to prove the country that he was able bodied and capable of leading the nation. Reading this increases one understanding and persception of the physically challenged and will inspire support for all necessary accomidations.

Most biographers of FDR treat his bout with polio as an episode in his life, something worthy of mention but not much more. Gallagher, himself a paraplegic polio (he prefers that term to "polio victim" or "survivor"), points out how impossible it would be for paraplegia, which affects every minute of a person's day, the attitudes of others, and a person's self-concept, not to be the central fact of Roosevelt's adult life. In fact, the myth that polio was an inconvenience that FDR overcame was a carefully nurtured construct. The author's insight makes this a uniquely perspicacious biography. ( )

Wonderful book with great insight to the manipulations of FDR and his administration---as well as the difference of that era's media, who refused to make his handicap visible. ( )